Obesity is one of the most prevalent public heath problems in the United States and affects millions of Americans. An especially severe type of obesity, called morbid obesity, is characterized by a body mass index greater than or equal to 40 or a body weight that is 100 or more pounds over normal weight.
Recent studies have shown that over 300,000 deaths are caused by obesity in the United States each year. In addition, millions suffer broken bones, social isolation, arthritis, sleep apnea, asphyxiation, heart attacks, diabetes, and other medical conditions that are caused or exacerbated by obesity.
Patients suffering from obesity have very limited treatment options. For example, drugs such as sibutramine, diethylpropion, mazindol, phentermine, phenylpropanolamine, and orlistat are often used to treat obesity. However, these drugs are effective only for short-term use and have many adverse side-effects.
Another treatment option for obesity is surgery. For example, a procedure known as “stomach stapling” reduces the effective size of the stomach and the length of the nutrient-absorbing small intestine to treat obesity. However, surgery is highly invasive and is often associated with both acute and chronic complications including, but not limited to, infection, digestive problems, and deficiency in essential nutrients.
Obesity is intricately related to diabetes, in particular type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is characterized by body tissue resistance to insulin activity. Many studies suggest that obesity increase a person's chances of developing type II diabetes.
Likewise, type II diabetes increases a person's propensity to become obese. As cells within the body become less responsive to the actions of insulin, the pancreas is forced to continuously produce more insulin to drive glucose into cells. The excess insulin that is produced as a result of insulin resistance increases the storage of body fat and thereby increases a person's propensity to become obese.
Patients suffering from type II diabetes also have limited treatment options. Type II diabetes is typically controlled with diet, weight loss, exercise, and oral medications. More than half of all people with type II diabetes require insulin to control their blood sugar levels at some point in the course of their illness. However, these treatment options are made difficult when type II diabetes is accompanied by obesity.